Hougang PAP candidate Mr Desmond Choo and WP candidate Mr Png Eng Huat were seen at Serangoon Secondary School just before ballot boxes arrived for counting.

Drum beats and shouts of "Huat Ah" were heard coming from the coffeshop at Blk 322 Hougang Ave 5 with an estimated crowd of 300.

Cheers could also be heard a block away.

Around 8.10pm, a group of five WP polling agents left Serangoon Secondary School ending a four-hour shift.

One of them, Mr Christopher Lim, 42, said the polling process was smooth with "no issues".

It is his second time acting as a WP polling agent after last year's General Election (GE).

It is also the third time in less than a year that Hougang residents get to vote in elections, the first two being last year's GE and Presidential Elections (PE).

The crowd at Blk 322 are very loud with their Tiger Beer ordered by the bucketloads, more cheers of "Huat Ah" which has been the battle cry for WP candidate Mr Png and, and grouses about the ruling PAP government.

Around 8.20pm, two policemen arrived at Serangoon Secondary School carrying a sealed ballot box as well other ballot boxes arrived at Holy Innocent's Primary Centre which are the two counting centres.

More Hougang residents gathered at Blk 702 to watch the by-election results together.

The crowd at Blk 322 has grown to about 400 with at least four police officers keeping the peace.

Overheard at Block 322: "Doesn't this count as an illegal assembly? Police going to catch us?"

The four police officers continue to stay at the fringes with a traffic policeman arriving on the scene.

There is only standing room inside the coffeeshop, with an estimated crowd total of 600, together with drumbeats, trumpets blowing and cheering.

There is speculation that the final tally will be 14,000 votes to Workers' Party and 9,000 to PAP, based on counting so far, at around 9.10pm.